If there’s one thing that drives me crazy, it’s the parochialism of the so-called elites.  While it’s undeniable that affluent people tend to live along the coasts or in selected suburban counties ringing cities throughout the country (Arapahoe County, Colorad; Oakland County, Michigan; Collin County, Texas; etc) I always take issue with the fact that [...]

Here’s the podcast.
The discussion was whether or not Obama is a disappointment.  Obviously, he is.  I only got two comments in, though–I was at work.
I wasn’t well-informed about the structure of this discussion.  I didn’t know I’d basically be able to jump in and interrupt at any time, and since this is pretty new to [...]

It occurred to me that it’s just not intellectually permissible to rail against chains, without distinctions.  So here are some chains that I like.
States with Ikea, states without Ikea.

States with In-n-Out, states without In-n-Out.

States with Crate and Barrel, states without Crate and Barrel.

States with Trader Joe’s, states without Trader Joe’s.

California has everything!  New Hampshire [...]

My (double) alma mater has behaved, for some time, like a nouveau riche wannabe determined to out-Ivy the Ivy League.  It is primarily a real estate management empire with some auxiliary teaching duties on the side.  And now, they are encouraging low-income applicants to look elsewhere.
Seriously.  They’re calling poor teenagers and passive-aggressively letting them know, [...]

Publish it, bitches!

So I’m over the hump, in terms of hunger and, hopefully, irritability.  Days 3 and 4 are the hardest–I felt that way last year and this year reaffirmed it.  Climbing hills is a struggle.  No amazing sense of smell just yet.  But I’ve eaten fewer lemons than I thought: three every day except for yesterday’s [...]

I started reading Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon, which opens during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and it made me think of where I would have wanted to be living–if I were some sort of immortal being–from that time through the end of the twentieth century. The four criteria would be witnessing history in [...]

I’m doin it, baby.  I need to detox ‘08 0ut of me.  (Shouldn’t have sucked all the mercury out of those dragon rolls).   No more solid food until we have a new president.
I did it last year and can confirm the rumors that it’s amazing, as long as you know what it isn’t: a weight-loss [...]

Be more outrageous.
Read 50 books.
Publish Lowereastcide, the novel I’ve been writing for years now. Finish the second book.

Watch 180 movies I’ve never seen before. Watch the Wire.
Learn more about the internets. And Photoshop.  Make this blog not look like crap.
Correct people when they refer to Elliott as my partner. I know it’s meant to be [...]